Brief 'soft lockdown' lifted at elementary

A brief 'soft lockdown' situation was lifted around 11 a.m. Thursday at Rockdale Elementary School after a potentially serious situation was resolved off-campus, according to police.

Lt. J. D. Newlin told The Reporter a woman who lived outside Rockdale had advised she was headed for the school to pick up her child and then planned to commit suicide. Newlin said the woman had left with a "full bottle of pills."

Newlin said police went to the school to wait for the woman, but she was located by a Milam County unit before arriving and was taken to a hospital for a mental evaluation.

Pam Kaufmann, RISD assistant superintendent, said as a precaution, the campus went into a soft lockdown, meaning all exterior doors were locked and no one from outside was allowed in.

"At no time were students or anyone at the school in any danger," Newlin said. "The situation never got to the school at all."